Auschwitz

yeah, why dont you ask elsewhere whether the auschwitz resort has a swimming pool

Keti, that's what I was talking about! It does have a swimming pool! :-)))

KZ swimming pool

ah..interesting, pszeker..didnt know that :)

but has anybody else notice something? the poster says:
Perhaps if you read my profile though, you'll see I'm no stranger to Europe.
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hes from the UK..i thought the UK IS in europe..or maybe im mistaken?:)

i guess being from the UK, prague or riga or perhaps some spanish resort would suit him much better.
im afraid auschwitz probably doesnt have any pubs.

Keti.... You are just nothing but rude. Your insults are not even answering what I asked. I thought from reading your replies (sorry.... Abuse!!), that you may be Polish, but in fact you are from Finland.
Who are you to criticise????!!!!
Thanks to all the other Posts - I'm grateful to you. I'm just trying to get some idea of what to expect when I get there, from people that have been to Auschwitz, rather than take in what I've read about it.
Incidentally, it's my intention to get a bus to about 5 kms away and walk the last part, in the middle of January, with light clothes on. Just to get some idea, you understand.
Thanks again to all those that helped me with my question.

OK, to actually answer the OP's question... Auschwitz is a very moving experience. For anyone wishing to pay their respects to those murdered there, you should go. For me, it had a profound impact.

"Incidentally, it's my intention to get a bus to about 5 kms away and walk the last part, in the middle of January, with light clothes on. Just to get some idea, you understand.
Thanks again to all those that helped me with my question. "

I get your point... When I went, it was at 7:30 on a Sunday morning, in the end of December. It was snowing, and freezing cold. I was the only person there (other than a small number of staff). I got there before all the tour buses. The helped make a stronger impact on me, seeing the bleekness.

In case anyone reads this seeking insight ...
I had been reading about Auschwitcz all my life it seemed, from when I first found a copy of "Five Chimneys" in my parents bookcase as a youngster. It gave me nightmares then.

You might wonder, with all the books, exhibitions, TV and films about it, what more there is to say, know or feel.

But one thing you can never properly understand until you go there is the sheer scale+ of the atrocity. The sheer +hopelessness+ of survival. The ruthless +organisation which made the Nazis acts of genocide so much worse, if there can be any comparison of inhumanities.
I stood at the platform where the inmates disembarked and realised that I was 20 minutes from death if I was in that spot 63 years before. And that would have been preferable to being selected for labour and the certainty of being effectively tortured to death over weeks and months.

You also get some historical insight into how and why the camp came about and how it developed. The tour guides, local young Poles mostly, are very good in that respect and they don't shrink from the facts.

Post #14#.... Glad someone else has done something similar to what I plan to do. I hate cold weather - just hate it. This will be something I've never done before and already I'm getting ideas.
Thanks so much for your comments.
Kriss - Manchester.

It's definitely worth a day trip, but be prepared for some overwhelming emotions... Not trying to be corny here but I was seriously perturbed by what I saw there...

Thanks so much for all the heplful responses.

http://itoswiecim.republika.pl/en/communication.html
Tourist information in English, including a town map. Don't miss Auschwitz II-Birkenau, as it is even more disconcerting than the main camp.